(2011)West Coast Sharks and a 4 1/2 Hour Fight w a Monster!

Started out Wednesday night with big stuff on the menu. Huge slabs of a big southern ray I got were on the menu with Mustad double strength hooks as the eating utensil. At the beginning I was solo and 30 mins. After deploying both baits I was hooked up to something big. Eventually the hooks pulled and my father showed up right after that. That night I got a 6’1” bull and he got a 7’6” lemon. Don't ask me how those little sharks ate the huge ray slabs I had out.

Me fighting the 6’1” bull

6’1” bull

7’6” lemon

Thursday we went offshore with our favorite offshore capt. And got AJ’s, grouper, and snapper.

Reef Donkey

Friday night was the next time I could hit the sand. This night seemed perfect to me. I was solo on a beach with nobody in sight, a huge lighting storm to the south, light cloud cover mixed with starry skies at times, a light NE wind, and 1-2ft surf. I knew going out there I would get a big one. Around 10:30pm I got the first hit and while fighting it on the 14/0 my 12/0 goes off. I reckoned that I had a shark on and I couldn’t handle 2 sharks at once while fishin solo. The 12 eventually stopped screaming and I landed a 7’2” nurse. I figured if anything it was good practice for the night ahead. It had been since August since I had caught a shark 100% by myself with no help from spectators or other fisherman so getting the rust out of my grooves was important.
7’2” Nurse

After redeploying the 14/0 I found that the 12/0 was hung up on something. I went out there and pulled the ray up and saw a massive bite mark in it. Since it was the only ray left I dropped it back down. Now that I think about it why did I put the best bait on my 12/0 and not the 14? Right around midnight the 12/0 goes screaming. I had the feeling in my gut that this was the one. With line screaming like crazy off the reel just like a hammer does I kicked it into gear and set the hook. Not too long after that while fighting the shark my 14/0 goes off screaming also. I said screw it knowing that I have king kong on. Fortunately the 14/0 went silent so I didn’t have to worry bout that thing getting spooled. Not long into the fight I am planted in the sand and I realize the rubbing I feel is the 5 ft deep sandbar at low tide 75yds out rubbing my line. That sandbar is covered in shells just like the beach from the recent cold fronts and I also notice my line is getting frayed really bad from the sandbar. I stand up to get the line up higher and without access to the harness without crossing lines I put the rod in my crotch and stick it out. This shark was massive I knew it was. But it was also acting weird. It wouldn’t go past 400yds out for some reason. It would peel off line and then stop at the same point every time. I’m all out on this deserted beach by my lonesome having to run all over the place when the shark goes one way and I have to get on the other side of a line or the tide is coming up and I have to throw my sleeping bag up the beach since it is getting wet. This was a very difficult fight and I was whooped. My hands were covered in blisters even though I had gloves on and probably bleeding. My arms shook with every pump of the rod as they had given out a long time ago. During the fight with nobody to talk to I was just praying to God to help me land this shark. No man can fight a monster shark without help and the only help I had was the guy up top so I might as well ask him.
Late in the fight it felt like the shark died. All of a sudden it became dead weight, wasn’t shaking its head or nothing. It was so heavy it took me 30 minutes just to drag it in 50 yds. When it got to the sandbar it woke up and started peeling line and shaking its head again. But by this time it was tired and I slowly got it to the surf. I was expecting a massive hammer or bull dorsal fin with the tail bit off since the shark fought weird but what do I see but two giant same size dorsal fins! This was a huge lemon shark! I didn't know lemons could hit just as hard as a hammer but have the endurance to put up one long fight. With my flashlight in my mouth, tail rope in one hand and both hands on the line I set the rod in the sand and worked my way towards this world record size shark. I inch my way down the line towards the shark with my heart beating a million miles an hour. When 20 feet from it all of a sudden POP! The extremely frayed line finally gave out and what I would guess to be a 12-13ft lemon shark swam away with both dorsal fins and massive tail sticking out of the water. All I could do was collapse into the sand with every lick of pride I had swimming away from me. Exhaustion and dehydration took over from there and I really wanted to cry since I came just a few feet from landing this shark and it got away. I look at my phone and it says 4:43am. I didn’t believe it. How I got through a 4 ½ hour tug of war only God knows. I give credit to three things: adrenaline, the gym I work out at, and a guardian angel which must have been holding onto that rod for me. With my entire body shot (especially my lower unit from the rod). I could barely reel in my 14/0 so I called it a night.

I will get paybacks with that shark I know it. I know where its territory is and I will fish that beach hard until I get that big lemon. If I would have had somebody with me I could have landed that shark. Maybe this experience will make me shark fish solo less often and more often with fellow shark fisherman. Sorry I don't have any photos of the fight. I couldn't afford any distraction in a fight like that.

I reckon that even if I had got the tail rope around that shark I wouldn’t have been able to budge it. There’s no way a 160lb guy can drag a huge shark like that onto the sand. So I gotta get some sort of waterproof camera that can be a helmet cam. If any of ya’ll know of a good waterproof camera or waterproof helmet cam please let me know what it is called and if you have any recommendations where to buy it I would appreciate it. I solo shark fish 75% of the time I am out there and I want the ability to document my experiences while having my hands free. Thanks for any help anybody could give me.